Revisiting the Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics: From FAPP Solutions to Contextual Ontologies

TL;DR

This paper compares major quantum interpretations, emphasizing the importance of contextual ontologies over FAPP solutions, and introduces the CSM framework as a comprehensive, non-FAPP ontological approach that incorporates measurement irreversibility.

Contribution

It proposes the Contexts-Systems-Modalities (CSM) framework as a novel, complete ontological interpretation of quantum mechanics emphasizing contextual quantization.

Findings

CSM provides a non-FAPP ontology incorporating measurement irreversibility.

The operator-algebraic description clarifies the role of macroscopic contexts.

Highlights the significance of contextual quantization in quantum theory.

Abstract

This note presents a concise and non-polemical comparison of several major interpretations of quantum mechanics, with a particular emphasis on the distinction between FAPP-solutions ("For All Practical Purposes'') versus ontological solutions to the measurement problem. Building on this distinction, we argue that the Contexts-Systems-Modalities (CSM) framework, supplemented by the operator-algebraic description of macroscopic contexts, provides a conceptually complete, non-FAPP ontology that naturally incorporates irreversibility and the physical structure of measurement devices. This approach differs significantly from other ontological interpretations such as Bohmian mechanics, spontaneous collapse, or many-worlds, and highlights the major role of contextual quantization in shaping quantum theory.